Neil deGrasse Tyson explains why he thinks Russian space weapon ‘makes no tactical sense’

Author of Accessory to War The U Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military. Neil, thanks so much for being h So U.S. officials say that they’re very worried about this Russian space weapon and how it could pose a significant threat to the United States and its allies by taking out satellite capability. What do you think? Well, it’s a reminder of why we have a Space Force. Space Force is was conceived, among other with other tasks in mind to protect our space borne asset And those assets, of course, not only the value of the satellites them is the value of the information they gather from the spy satellites, but also the commerce that is generated especially via the GPS satellite So so when you think of a force of military force protecting the homeland, the homeland includes our space The difference now, of course, i space is not bordered the way Earth’s surface is. So satellites are continually have intersecting orbits of different nations with different roles and different purposes. So the idea that someone is goin Putin might put something into o that will explode, send out an electromagnetic puls that fries the circuits of an entire swath of orbiting satellites. Makes no tactical sense. If everybody’s got satellites moving through that area, it’s not a very targeted weapon. Meanwhile, we already know how to take a we out of that. We already know how to take a satellite out of orbit with a kinetic kill. India has done it. China has done it. Russia’s done We’ve done it. We can target any satellite we w It’s been done. And and the idea that you put a weapon there and somehow drop it on the earth that’s like the least strategic you could possibly do when you already have intercontinental ballistic missi that can deliver a warhead anywhere between two points on E within 45 minutes. Okay. I hear what you’re saying, and that makes sense to me. But why do you think that Putin is going through with this weapo which you argue would hit him as much as it would hit us? Yeah, it’s I’m I remain puzzled by the idea that here’s this thi that could explode. By the way, an actual bomb in space carries no shockwave because there’s no air to move that energy. It would have to be a radioactiv to do the damage. And I cannot see the strategic v of that. It’s yes, everyone is in a tizzy because the word nukes are being but it’s the weapon itself. Maybe it’s powered by a nuke, but the nuke itself is not what’s getting dropped on cities, just the way the president announced it in his comments. So, no, I don’t I don’t have an easy answer for what this is or how he intends to use it, given that there’s already the c to deliver nuclear weapons surface to surface and the capability to target sat with a kinetic kill from the Ear from Earth’s surface. You can send up a targeted just a just a kinetic energy imp that can completely destroy a sa within 8 minutes. Meanwhile, if you’re in orbit, you got to wait until your orbit is in the right place So it’s near whatever other satellite you might want to destroy. So it’s a big mystery. And so I have no idea beyond the physics of what’s goi what how this could possibly be more broadly. More broadly when it comes to space warfare. Who do you think has the technological edge? Well, it’s with the Pentagon by space Space has always been a place not where you drop bombs from, but where you surveil. And it’s been that way since the early 1960s. So the United States takes this very seriously. And what who am I going to bet o betting on America? The United States, of course. But I don’t know where he’s going with this and wherever he might go. It seems like an unnecessary pat given other paths that already e that people might want to invoke to do damage. All right. Neil deGrasse Tyson, great having you on the show. Thank you so much for your insig